Adjustable linear hair tie

ABSTRACT

A hair tie includes a linear elastic body; a loop member disposed at one end of the elastic body, and having an inner space for receiving a hair bundle, wherein a size of the inner space is variable with a volume of the hair bundle; and an engaging member disposed at another end of the elastic body for engaging with an object after the linear elastic body is wound around the hair bundle inside the inner space of the loop member for one or more turns.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a hair tie, and more particularly to a linear hair tie with an adjustable end.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Hair rings are common accessories for hair styling, and usually made of rubber. In use, the hair ring is radially stretched with user's fingers to a size larger than a hair bundle to be received, and then released to retract to a smaller size to trap the hair bundle inside. When the hair ring is much larger than the hair bundle, it is necessary to twist the hair ring for a couple of turns to ensure of sufficient tightness. Therefore, the user needs to hold the hair bundle tightly while twisting the hair ring tensely with both hands alternately and cooperatively operating on the hair bundle and hair ring. It is especially difficult for small children or people in a hurry to well organize the hair bundle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a hair tie, which is adapted to be used for tying a thick or thin hair bundle in an easily operating way.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a hair tie, which can tie a hair bundle tightly without alternately changing hands for holding a hair bundle and twisting a hair ring.

A hair tie according to an aspect of the present invention includes a hair tie, comprising: a linear elastic body; a loop member disposed at one end of the elastic body, and having an inner space for receiving a hair bundle, wherein a size of the inner space is variable with a volume of the hair bundle; and an engaging member disposed at another end of the elastic body for engaging with an object after the linear elastic body is wound around the hair bundle inside the inner space of the loop member for one or more turns.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above contents of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1A-1C are schematic diagrams illustrating a hair tie according to an embodiment of the present invention and examples of an engaging member included in the hair tie;

FIG. 1D is a schematic diagram exemplifying a use of the hair tie of FIG. 1A, 1B or 1C;

FIG. 1E is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a linear elastic body included in the hair tie of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a loop member included in the hair tie of FIG. 1A, 1B or 1C;

FIG. 2B and FIG. 2C are schematic diagrams illustrating operational examples of the loop member of FIG. 2A; and

FIGS. 3A-3C are schematic diagrams illustrating another example of a loop member included in the hair tie of FIG. 1A, 1B or 1C, and operational states of the loop member.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that the following descriptions of preferred embodiments of this invention are presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed.

FIG. 1A schematically illustrates an embodiment of a hair tie according to the present invention. The hair tie includes a linear elastic body 10, a loop member 11 at one end of the elastic body 10, and an engaging member 12 at the other end of the elastic body 10, as exemplified in FIGS. 1A-1C. The loop member 11 is adaptively changed with a hair volume. After a hair bundle 220 is inserted into the loop member 11 and tightened to a certain extent, the linear elastic body 10 is wound around the hair bundle 220 for one or more turns to further tighten the hair bundle 220, as illustrated in FIG. 1D. Then the engaging member 12 is used to secure the tying. The engaging member 12 as shown in FIG. 1A is a hook member. The hook member may hook the elastic body 10, the loop member 11 or somewhere on hair without hurting scalp and damaging hair. For example, as exemplified in FIG. 1E, the elastic body 10 includes a plurality of fixing rings 101, one of which is selected to be engaged with the hook member 12 in the embodiment of FIG. 1A to secure the tying.

FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a loop member included in the hair tie of FIG. 1A, 1B or 1C. In this embodiment, the loop member is implemented with a deformable ring 21, which is for example, made of rubber or any other suitable deformable material. The size of a hole in the center of the deformable ring 21 is variable. It is generally small, and expandable slightly to receive a small volume of hair bundle 221 (FIG. 2B) or expandable largely to receive a large volume of hair bundle 222 (FIG. 2C). The hair bundle, once being inserted into the deformable ring 21, is spontaneously tightened to a certain extent. Therefore, the user can easily wind the elastic body 10 around the hair bundle, which has been in the ring 21, and fix the engaging member 12 to a proper object. In this embodiment, The elastic body 10 can be connected with the deformable ring 21 and the engaging member 12 by way of any proper coupling means, e.g. gluing, sewing, clamping, etc.

FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram illustrating another example of a loop member included in the hair tie of FIG. 1A, 1B or 1C. In this embodiment, the loop member is implemented with a retractable loop, which is integrally formed with a linear elastic body 31. One end of the retractable loop is an extension of the linear elastic body 31, and the other end of the linear elastic body 31 has an adjusting mechanism 33, through which the inner space 30 of the loop can be adjusted. For example, the adjusting mechanism 33 is another loop, through which the linear elastic body 31 penetrates. After a hair bundle 32 is inserted into the inner space 30 of the loop, the linear elastic body 31 is pulled away from the loop member so as to retract the loop member and reduce the inner space 30 (FIG. 3B) until the hair bundle 32 is tightened in the inner space 30 with the loop member (FIG. 3C). Afterwards, the user can easily wind the elastic body 31 around the hair bundle 32, which has been in the inner space 30 of the loop member, and fix the engaging member 12 to a proper object. In an alternative embodiment, the adjusting mechanism 33 may be implemented with a deformable ring as illustrated with reference to FIG. 2A to fix the retracted loop member more firmly.

It is understood from the above descriptions that the linear hair ties according to the present invention are easily operable and can be used in a variety of ways.

While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A hair tie, comprising: a linear elastic body; a loop member disposed at one end of the elastic body, and having an inner space for receiving a hair bundle, wherein a size of the inner space is variable with a volume of the hair bundle; and an engaging member disposed at another end of the elastic body for engaging with an object after the linear elastic body is wound around the hair bundle inside the inner space of the loop member for one or more turns.
 2. The hair tie according to claim 1, wherein the loop member is a deformable ring having a hole at a center thereof, and a size of the hole spontaneously changes with the volume of the hair bundle.
 3. The hair tie according to claim 2, wherein the deformable ring is made of rubber.
 4. The hair tie according to claim 1, wherein the loop member is a retractable loop, and integrally formed with the linear elastic body.
 5. The hair tie according to claim 4, wherein one end of the retractable loop is an extension of the linear elastic body, and another end of the linear elastic body has an adjusting mechanism, through which the inner space of the loop member is adjustable.
 6. The hair tie according to claim 5, wherein the adjusting mechanism is another loop, which the linear elastic body penetrates through, and is movable relative thereto to adjust the size of the inner space.
 7. The hair tie according to claim 1, wherein the engaging member is a hook.
 8. The hair tie according to claim 7, wherein the linear elastic body includes a main line and a plurality of side rings fixed onto the main line to be selectively engaged with the hook.
 9. The hair tie according to claim 7, wherein the object which the hook is to engage with is hair.
 10. The hair tie according to claim 1, wherein the engaging member is a hair clip.
 11. The hair tie according to claim 1, wherein the engaging member is a hair pin. 